Machine for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes.



A. BATES. MACHINE FOR .USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 9, 1908.

Patented May 5, 1914.

W/T/VESSESI swam COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHINGTON, D. c.

ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR BATES, 0F LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PA'IERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 9, 1908.

Patented May 5, 1914. Serial N 0. 420,009.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Anrrron Bn'rns, a subject of the King of England, residing at Leicester, in the county of Leicester, England, have invented certain Improvements in 'Machines for Use in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings in dicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to machines for working an upper over a last. In machines for this work one or more members are operated through the medium of yielding devices or springs as the degree of movement imparted to the members while operative varies according to circumstances. vices or springs thus used constitute a yielding connection whereby the cam or other actuating device can always move to its full limit, while the member performing the work may be operatively displaced to a greater or less degree according to the particular requirements of the-work in hand.

In pulling-over machines members carrying pincers are operated through the medium of yielding spring connections in this manner so that when the actuating device has moved to its full limit the pincers will have pulled the leather over the last to the required degree, but have become operatively displaced relatively to the actuating device by the resistance of the leather causing the intermediate connections to yield. At such time therefore the pincer operating mechanism is under more or less heavy strain, or

stress, resulting from the compression, in the illustrated construction, of the said spring connections. The pincer grip when then released frees the pincer carrying member and this, impelled by yielding connections, is suddenly carried to the full limit of its movement with considerable shock to the parts of the machine.

One objectof the present invention is to regulate the movement of the pincer carrying member and to eliminate all such shock. According to this invention thisobject is achieved by the provision of additional means, which may also be adjustable to vary its effect, to control, check, or retard the updraw motion of the pincers either by a yield ing stop or a pneumatic or hydraulic check or otherwise. The check may take the form The de of a plunger which is free to slide in a chamber containing a compressible medium, or the chamber may be provided with a restricted orifice through which either a compressible medium or incompressible fluid may be forced when the plunger is moved into the chamber. In the case of a liquid the outlet or wire-drawing passage would constitute a communication between the chamber and a liquid reservoir. By such means as these updraw motion of the member after the pincers are released from the upper, which they have yieldingly held under tension, may be cushioned by a driving of the plunger into its chamber, which movement is resisted by the compression of the medium contained in the chamber, or by wire-draw ing due to the expulsion of fluid through the outlet orifice.

The plunger may operate on the pincer carrying member and be carried in a chamber formed in, the end of an arm secured to any convenient part of the machine. A spring may be provided to advance the plunger to the limit of its outward movement when the ,member is withdrawn and this spring may be mounted within the same and caused to bear against the ends of the containing chamber, if desired, where it will be put under compression as the pincer rises in response to the expansive force of the usual updraw spring in the pincer operating mechanism.

The plunger may be made a good fit within the chamber and where ,a compressible fluid, such as air, is employed, the chamber may be entirely closed; but to insure that the chamber shall always be full of air after the plunger has been returned to the limit of its outward movement it is preferred to provide the chamber with a non-return inlet valve communicating with the external atmosphere and this valve may take the form of ,a ball kept upon its seating by a suitable spring. Where wire-drawing is adopted a non-return valve may be employed to permit rapid refilling of the chamber and easy return of the plunger to its original position.

A further use of the wire-drawing or other regulating or retarding device is its employment for controlling the speed of movement of the yieldingly operated member, in which case operative connection will exist before the pincer grip is released; for instance, the plunger before described may be in contact with the member before it begins to rise or advance so that when the member commences to advance the plunger commences to exert a resistance against it. According to the adjustment of the outlet,when an air chamber is employed, the point in the pincer movement can be varied at which a substantial resistance or retarding effect is obtained.

I Furthermore, it is within the scope of this invention to utilize the device first as a retarding or a controlling means and then as a cushioning means; i. 6., it would retard the member during part of its movement and then when the latter was released it would cushion the same.

If desired the plunger may be arranged to create a vacuum at one end of the chamber while forcing the liquid out at the other, so that it is retarded both by the wire-drawing and suction effects.

Various devices other than those before described may be employed to regulate the speed of the updraw motion of the pincers; for instance, a friction brake or governoror a speed regulating member thatis driven at the required slow rate of speed, providing they are in operative connection with the pincers at the lower end of their stroke to reduce their updraw movement to the sloW rate of speed that has been found to be requisite. By regulating to a slow speed the updraw motion a great improvement is attained in the operation of the pincers upon the work and by the provision of means for accomplishing this regulation all snatching stresses on the material at the end of the updraw motion are eliminated.

Previous to this invention energy was accumulated in the pincers by the rapid motion imparted to them by the usual quick acting cam of the pincer operating mechanism during the first portion of their movement to take up slack material and all this accumulated energy had to be absorbed by the material when it came under stress at the final portion of the updraw motion. This resulted in uneven tension in the successive operations of the pincers and was apt to occasion considerable damage to delicate materials.

Broadly speaking I regard as within the scope of this invention the employment, to bring about a slow speed for the updraw motion of the pincers, of any device additional to those for normally operating the mechanisms of the machine.

The several features of the invention, including certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will be explained in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the inv vention as applied to a machine of the type shown in United States Letters Patent No.

663,777, dated December 11, 1900, and these features will be more particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

Figure l is a side elevation of the machine, parts being broken away to illustrate particularly the pincer-actuating mechanism. Fig. 2 is a detail view, partly in section, of the device for cushioning or regulating the upward movement of the pincer lever. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail of a device for controlling the escape of fluid. Fig. 4: is a modification in which a non-return inlet valve is employed for quickly filling the cylinder. Fig. 5 is a modification adapted for the use of liquid, such as oil, in the cylinder.

In the machine shown the pincer-carrying lever A is pivoted to the framework B of the machine at A and carries at its forward end the pincers A It is yieldingly actuated to give the pulling-over movement to the pincers by a sliding bar C, which derives its movement from a quick acting cam C on the shaft C the lever A being operated by the sliding bar C through the medium of a spring D which is put under more or less compressive strain by the resistance of the upper to the pincer pulling movement. This constitutes a known type of mechanism fully described in said patent by which the pincers have heretofore been operated in their updrawing movement. Additional to this mechanism and cooperating with it, there is, in accordance with the illustrated embodiment of this invention, means which controls and also stops the updrawing movement of the lever A. This device comprises the parts shown in Fig. 2. A

plunger E is carried in a chamber E formed in the forward end of an arm that is secured to, or formed integral with any suitable part of the framework B of the machine. A spring E is provided to keep the plunger E against the lever A and advance the plun- I ger to the limit of its outward movement when the lever A descends with it. For controlling the escape of the air or other fluid the construction shown in Fig. 3 may be employed. To this end a threaded aperture 7 is formed in the side of the chamber E, a plane face being formed at the outer end of the aperture and a radial slit cut in this face at F. Into this aperture is inserted a threaded bolt F which is slotted as shown and provided with a check nut F When the bolt is turned to place its slot in alinement with the slit F the air escapes rapidly enough from the chamber during the rise of the plunger E so that it offers little resistance to the movement of the plunger. The amount of resistance can be varied by turning the bolt more or less.

The spring E is shown in the drawing as mounted inside the plunger E and bearing against the inner end of the chamber E, but it will be apparent that it could be otherwise arranged say, so as to surround the plunger externally and bear against a collar or boss forming part thereof or secured thereto.

To insure that the chamber E shall be always full of air by the time that the plunger has arrived at the limit of its outward movement a non-return inlet valve is provided communicating with the external atmosphere. This valve is in the form of a ball valve G which is kept upon its seat by a spring G which bears at one end against the ball and at its other end against a plug G on the wall of the chamber.

If a liquid is employed in the cylinder E a construction such as shown in Fig. 5 may be employed. In this arrangement a reservoir I-I located above the cylinder is connected to the latter by a small passageway H through which the liquid is forced by wiredrawing when the plunger is raised in the cylinder. A needle valve H controls the rate of flow through the passageway H.

In the embodiment of the invention shown the plunger has a stroke long enough to follow the pincer levers to the limit of their downward movement and so to retard the upward movement throughout the extent of that stroke. If it is desired toemploy the plunger only to cushion the latter part of the movement of the pincer lever after the upper has been released then the downward movement of the plunger can be limited, as by adjusting the screw I in Fig. 2 into the slot I in the plunger, the latter being lifted, of course, into position to permit this adjustment of the screw. It will be understood that each pincer lever of the machine is provided with a duplicate of the controlling means which has been described.

In the use of a machine equipped with this invention the pincers are actuated to seize and yieldingly pull the upper and at the proper time are released to permit the upper to be fastened. During the upward movement of the pincer lever A the plunger E controls the rate of the movement of the pincer, steadying the pincer and preventing the upper from being suddenly pulled or snatched and reducing the liability of the upper being torn. When the pincers are released from the upper the plunger insures a slow return of the pincer lever to its normal position, preventing it from being thrown upwardly, as against the frame B, which might result in breaking the lever. If it is desired to dispense with the action of the plunger for controlling the pulling movement of the pincers the plunger will be raised to bring the slot I opposite the screw I and the latter set into the slot. In this adjustment the plunger will be engaged by the lever at or about the limit of its normal upward pulling movement and will act as described to cushion the return of the lever to elevated position when the pincers are released from the upper. It is to be observed that the spring E which returns the plunger to its lower position after it has been raised also serves during the uplift of the pincers to retard their movement, thus assisting in steadying the movement of the pincers and insuring a gradual application of the pullvention and fully described a construction embodying the several features thereof in combination, although it is to be understood that they are not necessarily used in the relations herein shown, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers and mechanism for actuating them in the direction to pull an upper and then in the reverse direction, of means additional to said mechanism for regulating the rate at which the pincers are actuated during the pulling movement.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers and mechanism for actuating them to pull an upper, of means additional to said mechanism arranged for adjustment to regulate the rate at which the pincers are moved during such actuation.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers and mechanism for yieldingly actuating the pincers to pull an upper, said machine being arranged to release the pincers while the actuating mechanism is under tension, of means for controlling the movement of the pincers from releasing position to position of rest for the purpose described.

4:. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers and mechanism for actuating them to pull an upper, of additional means arranged to insure a movement of the pincers in the direction for pulling that is relatively slower than the normal rate of movement of the actuating mechanism.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers and mechanism for actuating them to pull an upper, of additional means arranged for operation during the last portion of the movement of the pincers for pulling the upper to retard such movement of the pincers.

&

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers adapted to seize, pull, and then release an upper, of means for yieldingly actuating the pincers to pull the upper, and additional means for insuring a gradual terminal movement of the pincers after they have released the upper.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers adapted to seize, pull, and then release an upper, of a cam for actuating the pincers to pull the upper, a spring between the cam and the pincers through which movement is transmitted from the cam to the pincers and which is put under strain by the resistance of the up per being pulled, and means for yieldingly checking the movement ofthe pincers effected by the expansion of said spring when the pincers are freed from the upper.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers adapted to seize, pull, and then release an upper, of actuating means for the pincer including a spring arranged to be put under strain by the resistance of the upper, and means for insuring a slow expansion of the spring when the pincers release the upper.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers and actuating means therefor including a spring arranged to be put under strain by the resistance of the upper, of a second spring arranged to be put under strain by that movement of the pincers which is effected through the reaction of the first spring.

10. In a machine of the class described,

the combination with pincers arranged to l seize, pull, and then release an upper and actuating means therefor including a spring arranged to be put under strain by the resistance of the upper and to move the pincers to the end of their normal stroke after they release the upper, of a second spring arranged to be put under strain during such movement of the pincers to the end of their stroke whereby said movement is cushioned.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers and mechanism for uplifting the pincers to pull the upper, of additional means arranged for adjustment to control the speed of said uplifting movement during a greater or less extent of said movement.

12. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers adapted to seize an upper, and mechanism for actuating the pincers in the direction to pull the upper and then in the reverse direction, of means additional to the actuating mechanism for insuring a gradual pulling movement by the pincers whereby snatching of the upper is avoided.

18. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers adapted to seize an upper, and mechanism including a spring for actuating the pincers to pull the upper, said machine being arranged to release the upper while the spring is under strain, of additional means for insuring a gradual reaction of the spring.

14. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers, of a quick acting cam, a spring between the cam and pincers arranged to store up energy received from the cam and expend it in actuating the pincers, and additional means to reduce the normal rate of actuation of the pincers.

15. In a machine of the class described,

the combination with pincers, of a quick acting cam, a spring between the cam and pincers arranged to store up energy received from the cam and expend it in actuating the pincers, and means constructed and arranged to offer resistance to rapid movement of the pincers and to decrease automatically during the movement of the pincers its resistance to that movement.

16. In a machine of the class described, the combination with pincers, and mechanism including a spring for actuating the pincers to pull the upper and hold it under tension, of means to release the pincers, and means to insure a gradual movement of the pincers by said spring after the upper is released.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR BATES.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR ERNEST JERRAN, GRACE HOLMES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patente. Washington, D. 0. 

